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Posted September 22, 2008 06:56 am - Updated March 29, 2010 02:52 pm

Shootings have natives of India reeling

Richard Burkhart

Jyoti Patel hands a receipt out under the bullet-proof safety glass seperating the cashier from the customers at the Country Convenience Store on White Bluff Road. The glass can be lowered all the way down to the counter for more protection. Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Richard Burkhart

Jyoti Patel gives change to a customer under the bullet-proof safety glass seperating the cashier from the customers at the Country Convenience Store on White Bluff Road. The glass can be lowered all the way down to the counter for more protection. Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Any person with the last name of Patel will agree his or her surname is one of the most popular in Indian culture.

"Patel" in India is like "Smith" or "Jones" in the United States.

They'll also describe how the origin of the name "Patel" traces back to the state of Gujarat in India, which is the same part of that south Asian nation that peaceful-resistance icon Mahatma Gandhi once called home.

But in Savannah for the past eight years, those serene traits have been blasted away with violent gunfire and death.

At least six Indian merchants died in that period during robbery attempts - five of them with the last name of Patel, according to members of the Indian community and news reports. Savannah-Chatham police do not classify crimes by nationality.

The most recent was gas station clerk Justin Patel, 42. He was shot on Sept. 6 outside a BP on Eisenhower Drive near Skidaway Road.

On Sept. 8, Steven Phillip Smith, 17, was arrested as a suspect in the shooting. As of Saturday night, Smith was listed as being held without bond at the Chatham County jail. He faces a preliminary hearing Oct. 2.

Although Patel did not have any relatives in the U.S., the Indian community in Savannah is close enough that "everyone is family," said Mitul "Mike" Patel, who owns the two BP gas stations where Justin Patel worked and visited.

"We're all very scared," Mike Patel said the night after Justin Patel's death. "We've put up the bullet-proof glass, and now they're attacking us from outside."

Vinay Patel, owner of the Country Convenience Store at 1102 E. Victory Drive and another at 12403 White Bluff Road, said some Indian store owners felt the police let them down.

"We feel very unsafe. Everyone who got killed was Indian, and we're starting to see less security," Vinay Patel said from his Victory Drive store, which has a bullet-proof glass window that is retractable but constantly stays in place, forever protecting the clerk. "We need more police vigilance."

He said his only alternative is to hire private security. But with store business slumping and gasoline profits next to nothing, the protection is too costly. Despite sagging receipts, he closes his stores early as a safety precaution.

Vinay Patel said the Indian community has discussed closing all convenience stores for one day to raise awareness.

"One day for the police and the community to realize we are here," he said.

Vinay Patel is not related to Mike Patel.

Numbers increase

Metro police figures show an increase in convenience store robberies over the past two years. Eight stores were robbed in 2006, while 12 suffered the same fate in 2007. As of Saturday night, there have been 10 this year. There were 22 in 2004, with seven in 2005.

Shortly after Smith's arrest, metro police Chief Michael Berkow said his department identified a trend in which robbers are targeting stores either at opening time or in the evening. He encouraged businesses to install quality video equipment and to use armored-car services.

A robbery at an Indian-owned business Aug. 27 might indicate the retailers are fighting back - literally. Metro police said Terrance Antonio Edwards, 19, held up the Stop-N-Go Quick Stop, 728 W. Oglethorpe Ave., at gunpoint and shot store clerk Ishwarbhai Patel as well as Mehul Patel. Both are expected to recover.

Although Mike Patel and others have said many of the 122 convenience stores with business licenses in Chatham County are Indian-owned, other business operators are fearful as well.

Pamela Scott recently purchased Abbey's at 703 Wheaton St. and significantly upgraded security features. She installed bullet-proof glass and locks on doors restricting access behind the counter. She also linked surveillance cameras to the Internet. That way, live footage could be monitored "from anywhere in the world."

"All I have to do is pull out my laptop," Scott said, adding that she has seen several robberies during her many years in the business. "I want my employees to feel comfortable working. They shouldn't have to worry about things that get in the way of doing their jobs."

Scott said she spends about 25 hours a week watching the cameras, especially when her employees are leaving at night.

Mike Salen manages the OPT Market and Deli, 209 East Broad St., where there is no bullet-proof glass.

Nor will there ever be, he said.

"The last incident, he was outside," Salen said of Justin Patel. "The bullet-proof glass did nothing. I don't think there's any magic anyone can do."